Annotations
by jAnon
Summary: Notes/translations/supplementary material for "Observations"
1. Intro

**NEW 10.16.2009**-- For those who don't want to wade through these annotations and go right to the important ones, I'll list the ones I think you should read.

9. Ch 18

13. Ch 32

15. Ch 39

33. Ch 70

--

This is meant to supplement my story _Observations_ and clarify anything that I think, or that readers tell me, is obtuse. I'll provide translations to Swahili/Russian/Spanish/other languages, denote any cultural references I make, and attempt to explain all the math I use in the piece.

I will do my best to keep this limited to information, not interpretation. What's the fun of reading and guessing if I tell you everything?

In terms of structure, I think of this piece in phases. I don't know if this is useful to anyone, but I've written down when I think certain phases begin. I don't know how many more phases are coming, and I'll leave it to you to figure out what they mark.

Phase 1— Ch 1

Phase 2— anywhere between Ch 32/38

Phase 3— Ch 70

Phase 4— "The City on the Edge of Forever", from Ch 87 to Ch 101

--

General Comments

As you may have guessed, I'll post any general comments about the piece here.

**09.28.2009**—This was previously in the Author's Note I posted in Observations. I've copied it here verbatim.

For those of you who want to see Spock emotionally compromised, I promise that it's coming. In fact, he's already been emotionally compromised in Ch 15, but he just chooses not to talk about it. This is one of the great things about writing in first person—I get to mislead all of you guys. Spock very smart, but he's not always right. He purports to be objective, and he tries as much as possible to be completely scientific. But that doesn't mean the conclusions he comes to are right. On the other hand, first person makes dropping hints about what's coming much harder, since if Spock doesn't get it, he just doesn't get it.

General rule of thumb—hints come from other characters. Bones picked up way back in Ch 45 that he, Spock and Jim are friends. Yet it took Spock the El Cazador arc to actually call Bones by his first name, and it took him even longer (Ch 70) to reflect on and accept that the three of them have become very deep friends. I think I wrote it so that Spock shifts from 'the captain' to 'Jim' for the first time in the Balance of Terror arc, but Nyota's the one who calls him on it.

There are other moments when Spock's actually more emotionally compromised than he lets on (though, I should have drawn more attention to this, since a lot of people seem to be missing it). I think this is consistent with TOS, especially considering the disastrous Pon Farr situation. I know that Spock talks about his feelings with his father in ST09, but he was already severely compromised.

My take on it is—Spock still hasn't completely come to terms with everything that happened with the _Narada_. I tried to show (perhaps a better term is not-show...) this in a few ways—he rarely talks about his alternate self, he never talks about his mother, and he doesn't talk that much about Vulcan II. In Ch 46, Spock deliberately glosses over the conversation he had with Sarek: "I only learned of the legacy of Sybok much later, shortly after I learned the real reason why my father married my mother." These are all really emotional topics that Spock still has to deal with. And he will. Just, old habits die hard. He's been taught to suppress his emotions all his life. That combined with rigid Vulcan control makes introspection that _includes_, rather than deliberately excludes, emotions a rare thing. Also, Spock's got a slew of insecurity issues that are still slowly being resolved.


	2. Ch 3

A note on languages

Statement 1: I love Star Trek. I wouldn't be writing this fiction if I didn't.

Statement 2: I love languages. They're tricky beasts, always evolving and they're the means by which we're able to have any sort of meaningful relationships at all.

Statement 3: It is notoriously difficult to invent a language. The fact that Klingon is a legitimate invented language is quite impressive and someday I will take the time to sit down and learn it.

Right. All those statements are true. But it is beyond me why Star Trek insists that there is one monolithic language among the different alien species of the galaxy. Vulcan? Three dialects of Romulan? One standard form of Klingon? What?!

There are at least 116 languages considered "official" among nations on Earth. The actual number of languages spoken on earth right now is easily 50 times that. I'm not going to go into the debate about languages versus dialects, and I'm not counting the (probably) thousands of dead and lost languages. So what in the world makes them think that there is only one form of Vulcan or Andorian or Tellarite or Cardassian or whatever? Any person with knowledge of linguistics will tell you that this is not how languages work. They're born (from where is a point of much debate), they die, they absorb new words and structures... I mean, it's possible that Vulcans could get together and decide to make one standard form—I wouldn't put it past them to do it. But all the other species?

Anyway, I make the distinction between Federation Standard and pre-Warp English since I imagine that by 23rd century, English (if it exists) will be vastly different. Example: Elizabethan English ≠ English today. The same goes for any other language, especially since the rise of nationalism beginning in the 20th century.


	3. Ch 7

"Yesli mui tak po'yedem, mimo... vot... b'udet shestdesyat chasov, hotya..."

«Если мы так поедем мимо... вот... будеть 16 часов. Хотя...»

"If we go this way, through... right... it'll be 16 hours. Although..."

Magnetic field of planets—

Remember the bar magnets you played with as a kid? The magnetic field is the "force field" generated by the magnet. It always has two opposite polarities, North and South i.e. you will never find a magnet that's only North or only South. It's kind of impossible.

Earth has a magnetic field surrounding the planet, generated by the planet itself, so we can actually kind of conceptualize of Earth as a giant magnet. This magnetic field is a wonderful thing—it's how traditional compasses work, it gives us the Aurora Borealis, it's the reason why the solar wind hasn't stripped away our atmosphere (see Mars). It's also known to reverse its polarity, that is magnetic North changes to magnetic South and vice versa, about every 250,000 years. We still don't know how Earth's magnetic field switches polarities. There are a few theories out there, but none of them are conclusive. All we know is that it has changed polarities periodically over the span of geologic time. Actually, we're way overdue for a reversal, since the last one is believed to have occurred about 780,000 years ago.

Not all planets have magnetic fields, and the strength of these magnetic fields varies with each planet. Earth has a strong magnetic field, Jupiter's is enormous, Mars' is weak, Venus is almost nonexistent.

The point is, the situation with this planet is mostly me playing around with theories in geology.


	4. Ch 8

Heri kufa macho kuliko kufa moyo— It's better to lose your eyes than your heart.


	5. Ch 12

The extent to which our vocabulary relies on emotions is astounding. Writing _Observations_ has made me excruciatingly aware of the fact that human language is filled with words that are purely based on emotions. It also made writing Spock kind of difficult. Something to look out for and this might be really obscure, but Spock's actual voice and vocabulary changes as this piece progresses.


	6. Ch 13

You can watch all three seasons of the Original Series at— cbs (dot) com/classics/star_trek/

This is a rewrite of the TOS episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

There is a Memory Alpha page summarizing the episode, for those you who can't watch the episode or have slow internet connections— memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Where_No_Man_Has_Gone_Before_%28episode%29


	7. Ch 14

Baada ya dhiki faraja— After hardship comes relief.

Jina jema hungara gizani— A good name shines in the dark.

Rafiki— friend.


	8. Ch 15

TOS: "The Naked Time"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/The_Naked_Time_%28episode%29


	9. Ch 18

"**Aboard this ship, in the middle of space, I am free to define myself according to my will. I choose my axioms, both human and Vulcan, upon which I build my mathematics."**

- Spock

A note on mathematics

I don't know as much about the history of mathematics as I'd like, but I do know this: everything you learned in grade school and university is really old. Geometry? Most of that is stuff that Euclid did back in Ancient Greece. Calculus? Newton and Leibniz made their big breakthroughs back in the 16/17th centuries. My point is that modern mathematics is very different from the stuff you were forced to learn in school.

To give you a taste of some more "modern" stuff, the following is a very important theorem in modern Algebra that's actually pretty basic and about 200 years old (thus the quotation marks). It's called the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory. There are several ways to state it, but I'm taking the formulation from Michael Artin's _Algebra_: "Let _K_ be a Galois extension of a field _F_, and let _G_ = _G(K/F)_ be its Galois group. The function _H_ → _K^(H)_ is a bijective map from the set of subgroups of _G_ is to the set of intermediate fields _F_ ⊆ _L_ ⊆ _K_. Its inverse function is _L_ → _G(K/L)_. This correspondence has the property that if _H_ = _G(K/L)_, then [_K_:_L_] = | _H _|, hence [_L_:_F_] = [_G_:_H_]."

Confused? Don't worry. It took a year for me to build up all the necessary vocabulary and theorems to understand the statement, let alone the proof. Once I did understand, it absolutely blew my mind. Galois theory is really cool. One of the things it explains is the reason why we can't solve equations like this: _x^5 - x + 1 = 0_ using only the operations +, -, ×, ÷, √, and cube roots. Anyway, I digress.

So what does "geometry without the parallel postulate" mean, and what the hell does it have to do with Spock being introspective? (I'm not even going to go into set theory and the Axiom of Choice. It gets very abstract.) Well first, what is the parallel postulate?

The parallel postulate is one of Euclid's axioms. Axioms are statements where their truth is taken for granted. You don't prove an axiom—it's the starting point for all other theorems. Now, someone might come along and decide that they'll take as many arbitrary statements as they want, say these are axioms, and call that system a mathematics. Fine, you can technically do that—no one's stopping you—but if your system ends up horribly contradicting itself, or if it's just not very interesting, then no one will care about it and no one will study it. In math, you want to have as few axioms as possible and still get tons of interesting theorems. When you get into mathematical research (i.e. inventing/discovering math), striking this balance is important and hard to accomplish.

I'm actually going to cite Playfair's axiom because it's more intuitive (for me, at least) and it amounts to the same thing as the parallel postulate: "In a two dimensional space, given a line _l_ and point _x_ not on that line, there is only one line _m_ that can be drawn through _x_ such that _m_ is parallel to _l_." If you draw this on a sheet of paper, this statement seems pretty true. But it isn't quite as obvious as the other four postulates, and for about two thousand years, mathematicians tried to use the other four postulates to prove the fifth postulate. Needless to say, they didn't succeed.

In the 19th century, mathematicians decided to finally stop trying to prove that the parallel postulate was true, but to see what happened when it wasn't. They ended up getting very new, different geometries, now referred to as non-Euclidean geometry. The most common examples cited of non-Euclidean geometries are hyperbolic geometry and elliptic (sometimes called spherical) geometry. In hyperbolic geometry, there are infinitely many lines _m_ drawn through _x_ that are "parallel" to _l_ in a plane, while in elliptic geometry, there are no lines _m _through _x_ that do not intersect with _l_. (There's a nice diagram on the wikipedia page if you're having trouble visualizing this— .org/wiki/Non-Euclidean_geometry)

Which geometry is the "right" one? All of them, actually. All of these geometries have been proven to be logically consistent, and are equally valid ways of considering space. Consequently, you end up with some funky results that you thought couldn't be true, like the fact that in hyperbolic space, the sum of all the angles in a triangle is less than 180 degrees. I mean, we've had that "sum of all angles in a triangle is 180 degrees" drilled into our heads since we were kids, and now I'm telling you that it's not always true? And here we thought that math was so rigid and inflexible! Next thing I'll tell you is that 2 + 2 = 5.

Well . . .

I'm kidding, right?

There _is_ an object in "modern" mathematics called the zero ring. It's more technical than this, but what it boils down to is that you define 0 = 1. Then 2 = 1 + 1 = 0, and 5 = 1 + 1 + 1 +1 +1 = 0, so 2 + 2 = 0 = 5. So yes, it is possible to have 2 + 2 = 5. In fact, it's possible to have 2 + 2 = 0 (modular arithmetic, mod 2 or mod 4), 2 + 2 = 1 (mod 3).

. . . What? How can you define 0 as 1? Is math breaking down and turning into anarchy? Has everything gone to the dogs since Pythagoras and Euclid?

No. These are all perfectly accepted mathematical constructs, and every mathematician knows about them. In fact, he probably thinks they're rather boring and he'd rather look at something more interesting, thank you very much.

Okay. Now that I've completely destroyed what you thought was addition, let's cut right to the chase. What does this mind-bending math have to do with Spock?

There is a stereotype perpetuated in the general population that in math, there is only one correct answer, only one way of solving a problem, only one way of considering space, or integrating a function, or proving a theorem. This is not true. When you get into higher level math, there's usually many different ways to prove a theorem (some more elegant than others). Mathematics is no longer about the One and Right and True answer like it might have been in your calculus class. Mathematics is about being logically consistent. Does this new theorem follow from our given assumptions, definitions and previous theorems, or does it lead to a contradiction? If the answer is yes, it's logically consistent, then great! We have a new theorem. If the answer is no, then we go back and try to find where we made an error in our proof.

Spock is half Vulcan. He is a creature of extreme rationality, but it does not necessarily follow that he is completely rigid and eschews emotions. Like mathematics, you have to look at the underlying assumptions and this, more than logic, determines who he is.

Spock is half human. He is a creature who feels, but as with logic, it does not necessarily follow that those actions guided by emotions are illogical. We can draw another parallel to mathematics because emotions are guided by their own internal logic. That logic is highly individualized and the rules are difficult to discover, but they are there. In some ways, we can think of logic as Euclidean geometry, and emotion as non-Euclidean geometry. It doesn't make sense to compare them, but each system is logically consistent.

So . . .

"**Aboard this ship, in the middle of space, I am free to define myself according to my will. I choose my axioms, both human and Vulcan, upon which I build my mathematics."**

Jim is in a class of his own. Spock builds himself on axioms, but Jim—

"**bends and breaks and believes the parallel postulate as he pleases, as it is useful, at his convenience. At his core, he burns with a drive to discover, push out into the dark of space, the thrill of the unknown, to live and thrive and fly and be free. To stand in the light and touch the darkness."**


	10. Ch 20

TOS: "The Enemy Within"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/The_Enemy_Within


	11. Ch 23

****

"Did you just agree with Bones? Did hell just freeze over?"

"The endothermic or exothermic nature of the mythical location of human torment known as 'hell' is not pertinent to the discussion of our mission, captain."

from— blakjak (dot) demon (dot) co (dot) uk/gez_ihee (dot) htm

For people who know chemistry and/or physics, this is absolutely hilarious (in fact, you've probably read it somewhere before):

The following is an actual question given on a McGill University chemistry mid-term exam:

Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Support your answer with a proof

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyles Law (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So, we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that most people and their souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyles Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities.

If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Celine LeBlanc during my Freshman year - that _"it will be a cold night in Hell before I sleep with you"_ - and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then (2) cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic.


	12. Ch 30

Maneno mema hutowa nyoka pangoni— Pleasant words will draw the snake from its hole.

Adhabu ya kaburi aijua maiti— The torture of the grave is only known by the corpse.

Dawa ya moto ni moto— Fight fire with fire.

Maji ya kifufu ni bahari ya chungu— Water in a coconut shell is like an ocean to an ant.

Mchele moja mapishi mengi— Rice is all one but they are many ways of cooking it.

Mfukuzwa kwao hana pakwenda— He who is expelled from home has nowhere to go.

Kila mlango na ufunguwo wake— Every door with its own key.

La kuvunda halina rubani— There is no incense for something rotting.

Mavi usioyala,wayawingiani kuku? — Why drive the birds away from the dung you don't eat?

Msema pweke hakosi— One who talks to himself cannot be wrong. (i.e. No one's there to correct him.)

Kitanda usicho kilala hujui kunguni wake— You can't know the bugs of a bed you haven't slept on.

Mwacha asili ni mtumwa— He who renounces his ancestry is like a slave.

Kipya kinyemi ingawa kidonda— A new thing is a source of joy. (As I understand this phrase, the new thing may not be an unambiguously good thing).

Hapana marefu yasio na mwisho— There is no distance that has no end.

Lila na fila hazitangamani— Good and evil will never mix.

Mtoto akililia wembe mpe— When a child cries for a razor give it to him. (i.e. Let him learn by experience.)

Heri kufa macho kuliko kufa moyo— It is better to lose your eyes than to lose your heart.

Kila ndege huruka na mbawa zake— Every bird flies with its own wings.

Kupoteya njia ndiyo kujua njia— To get lost is to learn the way.

See the site mwambao (dot) com/methali (dot) htm for more proverbs.


	13. Ch 32

Make what you will of this chapter. I will say a few things though.

1. This is what Spock saw in his meld with Jim. Remember that this isn't all of Jim, but what was left behind after that machine sucked almost everything out.

2. Breathing is important.

3. So are names.


	14. Ch 34

Damu nzito kuliko maji— Blood is thicker than water.

Kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa— One finger cannot kill a louse.

Ndugu— brother, sister, friend, anyone very close to you.


	15. Ch 39

It goes without saying that the soliloquy is from _Hamlet_.

A few words about my interpretation of Jim's past.

I know that in ST09, Jim's mother marries an abusive man (I think his name is Frank?) and he's the reason why Jim drives the car off the cliff. I didn't like that. I wanted to explore the issue of Tarsus IV, but I also decided that Jim would either go through Tarsus IV or he would have an abusive stepfather, but not both. Additionally, Jim ends up in a series of foster homes, but I didn't want the experience with these various foster families to be characterized by extreme trauma. Granted, they couldn't love him enough to put up all the crazy things he did, but that's a different kind of hurt.

I could say that there're a few reasons for my decision, but they mostly boil down to this: I know what it's like to be abused. Suffice to say that it is a distinctly Not Fun experience, and the consequences are deep and far reaching. I didn't want Jim to go through that bullshit. I wanted him to know what it's like to have a mother and father-figure who loved him and accepted him unconditionally, even if he was a hellion.

And while we're at it, I'll also say that I know what it's like to be sexually violated. Again, Not Fun. I'm still on the fence right now (09.28.2009) whether I'm going to write an arc dealing with rape. In some ways, I touched on the subject with the Taxidermy Mission. I don't have anything against people who write/read that stuff, but having been through it kind of gives you a different perspective on the whole thing.


	16. Ch 40

Natalie Dessay in the 'Mad Scene' of _Lucia di Lammermoor_ at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The whole scene is in three parts. The main aria is in the second link listed.

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=NYm7oJXVeks

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=JW5Ol3jNrJI

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=jazzsnBL7KY

I think it's one of the most beautiful and haunting arias in all of opera. Dessay has an interesting interpretation. I actually like Sumi Jo's better, found at this link:

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=GPe7zbM-MxY

...if any of you are opera enthusiasts.


	17. Ch 42

"Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen" from the French Revolution is an interesting document with some gaping philosophical flaws.

Владимир Высотский, or Vladimir Vysotsky is a very famous singer who lived during the Soviet period. People often say that he was like the Bob Dylan of Russia. You can hear the song that Chekov refers to through the link below.

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=Vj3pd-a-js8

A note on the Russian city formerly known as Leningrad.

The city St. Petersburg was built during the reign of Peter the Great, formally founded on 1703. It served as the capital of Russia from Peter's reign until the 1917 Russian Revolution. Before Peter the Great, Moscow as the capital of Russia, and its status as the capital was restored by under the new Communist government.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg underwent several name changes. From 1914-1924, the city was renamed Petrograd, then renamed Leningrad three days after Lenin's death. In 1991, during Perestroika, the city was once again renamed St. Petersburg and this is its name today. Hitler starving Leningrad is a reference to the horrible Siege of Leningrad, one of the worst sieges in the history of modern warfare.

Russian history is fascinating. If you ever get the chance, read up on it.


	18. Ch 43

TOS: "Shore Leave"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Shore_Leave_(episode)

"Ya dumayu," «Я думаю», I think.

"Nyet, nyet," «Нет, нет», No, no.

References to _Alice in Wonderland_, _The Matrix_, _Seven Samurai_.


	19. Ch 45

"Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas.

This poem is a villanelle, which has a very specific structure. The first and third lines of the first stanza repeat throughout the poem as the last line of the remaining stanzas. Another one of my favorite villanelles is by Theodore Roethke, "The Waking." Sylvia Plath has one as well, "Mad Girl's Love Song."

I'm not sure if this is clear, but this chapter is meant to center around Bones. I thought the poem was appropriate for him.


	20. Ch 47

TOS: "The Balance of Terror"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Balance_of_terror

The rewrite of this episode was partly inspired by Orson Scott Card's _Ender's Shadow_ of the _Ender's Game_ series, and the excellent German movie _Das Boot_, directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Both are highly recommended.

I got rid of the cloaking device and replaced it with a low energy ship because quite frankly, the idea makes no sense in the context of interstellar warfare. In space, where there's energy emission of any sort, it can be detected. That's how we know as much as we do about the great blackness beyond us. Assuming that the sensitivity of instruments able to pick up such signals has improved, it makes a high energy cloaking device that shields you from detection along some specific wavelength useless in open space. You're not emitting signals on one spectrum? Fine. You're _hemorrhaging_ it out another. Though, a cloaking device might be okay in other situations—maybe against disguising the signature against a specific method of detection.

Also, maybe this is a stupid question, but what the hell does a Neutral Zone look like in 3-D? I could not for the life of me figure it out. Is it a plane, a rectangular prism, a blob, a sphere? How do you know you're "in" the Neutral Zone? You have asteroid outposts, but depending on how you orient space, that area could get very ambiguous. ...I'm sure they made this all very clear and explicit in the treaty.

Castrodinium was invented by Star Trek. I am not a plasma physicist, and am therefore certain that my science is not accurate. I tried to make it as realistic as possible given my own basic knowledge and some online articles provided by various universities, NASA, and wikipedia.

Check out NASA's Great Observatories websites. They have four, which take fantastic out-of-this-world images of objects in space at various wavelengths: Hubble (visible, ultraviolet, near-infrared), Compton (gamma), Chandra (x-ray), and Spitzer (infrared).

And I'll admit it. The Romulan commander of TOS is one of my favorite one-shot characters. "The Balance of Terror" is also probably one of my favorite episodes.


	21. Ch 50

Inspired by/loosely based on an actual _GQ_ (_Gentleman's Quarterly_, a men's fashion magazine) article I read.


	22. Ch 51

On Sanskrit

I have a friend studying Sanskrit right now, and I based Ancient Vulcan off of a discussion I had with her. Sanskrit has eight cases (Finnish has fifteen, Russian has six, scholars debate about English having anywhere between two and maybe four), which allows for incredible precision of expression. Interestingly, our conversation turned to the implications of such precision in flirting. Flirting, at least in English, often depends on ambiguity of meaning and lots of interpretation. It's not so much what you say, but how you say it.

We thought that in Sanskrit, it'd be impossible to flirt, since what you say is exactly what you mean. There's probably no room for misinterpretation. But, she noted that there's lots of incredibly erotic literature and poetry written in Sanskrit.

I know there're lots of theories out there about Vulcan language and all that—some people writing Star Trek fanfiction recently seem to think that humans can speak Vulcan. Well. They can't. Humans are physically incapable of producing the necessary sounds. Anyway, this is my take on Ancient Vulcan. Given that they have words like _t'hy'la_, I thought it'd be an intriguing concept to give the language similarities to Sanskrit.


	23. Ch 54

Mandelbrot set produces what is probably the most famous fractal in mathematics. I actually don't know much about this field, I haven't studied it.

wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

It would be awesome to have supercomputing laptops. Though technically, today's laptops _would_ be supercomputers back when all this was getting started. I suppose it's all relative.

_Songs of S'lmon_—not sure I'm going to go anywhere with this.


	24. Ch 55

"Ser, wui oshibilis," «Вы ошибились», you made a mistake.

Most of the math and physics here is part real, part imagined. There are references to string theory, real analysis, linear algebra, and a very very vague reference to combinatorics, but none of them have any true mathematical meaning. Spock and Chekov are arguing whether it's necessary to use an infinite dimensional Euclidean space or if a finite number of dimensions will suffice. Chekov, being a physicist, is in favor of simplifying the whole calculation, even if it costs them a few decimal places in accuracy.

If you ever go into abstract math (I'm not sure about discrete or applied mathematics), you very quickly get used to the idea of infinite dimensional spaces.

wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/Hilbert_space


	25. Ch 56

Inspired by/based on the short story by Richard Connell, "The Most Dangerous Game." You can read it online:

classicreader (dot) com/book/1317/1/

The Augment hounds reminded me of Arthur Conan Doyle's _The Hound of the Baskervilles_. Conan Doyle's the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. You should read his mysteries—they're all diverting and excellent. There are several film and television adaptations available online (including one coming soon with Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson... I have no comment on the matter), but there's one done by the Soviets that is the best. No joke. The actors nail the characters and their replication of Baker St. and all the locations is amazing. Moriarty is exactly the spider-like criminal mastermind that you imagine him to be.

Spock treating Dr. McCoy was based off information I got online about treating shock, bullet wounds, mass bleeding, reading Tim O'Brien's _The Things They Carried_, and watching _Band of Brothers_ "Bastogne" too many times. I'm not a paramedic.

Translation (note—Raúl has a speech impediment.)

"Eth pothible que el cabrón therá mejor. Mejor mejor mejor. Todavía él ethtá en la selva, loth perroth loth perritoth lo buthcan. O el otro doctor. El otro, theñor, puede cazarlo."—It's possible that the bastard'll be better sport. Better better better. He's still in the jungle, the hounds the dear puppies search for him. Or the other doctor. The other, sir, you can hunt him.

"Ahora es suficiente. Mañana, quizá la mujer. Siempre esperamos, Raúl, siempre esperamos."—For now it's enough. Tomorrow, maybe the woman. We always hope, Raúl, we always hope.

"Bueno, theñor, bueno. ¿Y el brrruto?"—Of course, sir, very good. And the brute?

"Cállate. Parece que hay alguien. Está por aquí. Allá arriba."—Quiet. There's someone out there. Up above.


	26. Ch 57

Khan. As in Khan Noonien Singh, yes.

Translation

"Pepito, ¿qué tal?"—Pepito, what's up?

"¿Tú no puedes renunciar a la caza? Entonces, ¿por qué no cambias el juego? Es claro, que te aburres cazando estos animales bobos porque no pueden pensar, ni razonar. Mira—yo nunca estoy aburrido, nunca estoy deprimido y desanimado como tú, hermano mío. Es que mi oponente es tan listo como yo. Guerra, Pepito, es el mejor juego del mundo."

You can't give up the hunt? Then why don't you change the game? It's clear that you're bored of these stupid beasts because they can't think, they can't reason. But me? I'm never bored, I'm never depressed and discouraged like you, my dear brother. Why? Because my opponent is just as clever as I am. War, Pepito, is the best game in the world.


	27. Ch 59

My take on Singularity. If you keep up with the latest developments in AI, Singularity sounds more like our future and less like a possibility. We'll see, right? The funniest thing though—the other day I passed a man on the street carrying a sign "Singularity is Near."

You can read about technological singularity at wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/Technological_singularity

Sifr, the Arabic word for zero. Aleph, the precursor to the first Greek letter alpha, but also the Hebrew letter which mathematicians use to denote the cardinality (size) of infinite sets. Aleph-zero is the smallest infinity in mathematics.

"∑ (parts) ≠ whole" means that the sum of the parts does not equal the whole.

"Exists a finer topology" is another mathematical reference. I won't explain it means, but I meant it somewhat in the same sense as the statement previous. Spock is neglecting to define certain parts of himself.

Damu nzito kuliko maji—Blood is thicker than water.

I never mention this explicitly, but Spock is being hosted on the Sifr servers. Jim is being hosted on the Aleph servers.


	28. Ch 61

A note on vegetarianism

I'm vegetarian. There's many different shades of vegetarianism—I am of the variety that don't eat meat or fish. I'm also lactose intolerant, so I might as well be vegan. But I eat eggs, since I need the protein.

There really are many reasons why people become vegetarian. Personally, my reasons would be classified as political/environmental. I'm not a Peter Singer follower (his book _Animal Liberation_ is very famous, a foundation philosophical work on animal rights), but I do object to current factory farm practices, as well as the depleting of our oceans by overfishing. Even if they are generally considered to be 'lower' life forms, nothing deserves to suffer in the horrendous conditions of factory farms. Also, if we didn't divert so much of our grain supply to feeding cattle and so forth, a large portion of world hunger would be significantly reduced.

If you're not vegetarian, that's totally fine with me. All my family members and most of my friends are devout meat eaters. I don't try to convert anyone, but I have gotten a lot of shit for being vegetarian, which is why I'm writing this. I've been in situations where it's almost impossible to be vegetarian, since everything seems to come with meat, especially chicken. And just because I'm vegetarian does not mean I live off salads. I'm fortunate to live in a location where vegetarianism is well supported and very tasty.

I'm also writing this because in some fanfictions, they describe Spock's food as looking really unappealing, and I don't see why that should be. I rather imagine Vulcan food to be really good with lots of spices, maybe a lot like Indian food.


	29. Ch 64

TOS: "The Squire of Gothos"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Squire_of_Gothos

"_Hotya_, the enwironment below—_prosto uzhas_!"—Although, the enwironment below is simply a nightmare!

All your base are belong to us: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=FVsijmCFs50 It's hilarious. The stuff that legends are made of.


	30. Ch 66

"Summertime," by George Gershwin, from the opera _Porgy and Bess._

Ella Fitzgerald performs the song: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=Vc2Bm5IXGh4

You can find more traditional, less jazz heavy versions on youtube.

Chekov's lines are actually from a Rachmaninov song, «О нет, молю, не уходи!»

"Ya ob odnom mol'yu, taskuya: O bud' so mnoi—nye uhodi."—And again I beg you in anguish: O stay with me, do not leave!

Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings the piece: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=k3pU8zOm81U

"Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=NZlN9ZMgiR8


	31. Ch 67

I tried to make this as realistic and true as possible, given my own knowledge of martial arts. A lot of this is all stuff I've been told by my teachers.

There's a great documentary about Japanese martial arts, called _Budo: The Art of Killing_. I highly recommend watching it for anyone who's interested. I actually think this documentary itself is artistic, just the way they choose to present martial arts. It's up on youtube, the first part of the film is at this link:

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=V-7SDVi5c4g

I don't know as much about Korean or Chinese martial arts as I would like, nor do I know very much about Western fighting styles. They are very different from Japanese martial arts—many have described the attitude, style, and objective of the three nations to be completely different.

Just for kicks, there's a sick round of competitive tae kwon do, the gold medal round of the men's 80+ kg for Athens Olympics (2004). It isn't representative at all of what applied martial arts would look like. You'll notice that they don't throw punches, only kicks. The commentary's in Korean. : youtube (dot) com/watch?v=iuHDjdSzpFo

EDIT: I stand corrected. Many thanks to Serulene, who wrote that "Tae Kwon Do has some great punch/grab techniques, but kicks score a lot higher so players in competitive matches aren't likely to utilize hand techniques. There's some talk about changing the rules a bit to encourage players to use their hands, but so far, it's only been discussed. Shame, really."


	32. Ch 69

Made up the science here.

Sechas—сейчас—now

Buistreye—быстрее—faster


	33. Ch 70

Additive inverse—given some number _x_, an additive inverse is a number _–x_ such that _x + (-x) = 0._ For example, -1 is the additive inverse of 1, since 1 + (-1) = 0.

Open and closed sets—again, not going to go into set theory, though this is pretty basic. You can sort of conceptualize them as yin and yang.

Spock contrasts between two different kinds of opposites. There are opposites that cancel each other out and produce nothing, and there are opposites that complement each other to produce something more than themselves.

"Friendship is a serious affection; the most sublime of all affections, because it is founded on principle, and cemented by time." From _A Vindication of the Rights of Women_ by Mary Wollstonecraft.

A note on calculus

"If one may speak of this as a calculus, the Riemann sum can only give an approximation of the integral. It will never yield the true answer until the size of one's partitions vanish to zero—an impossibility to count an infinite number of infinitesimal moments."

There's lots of ways to think about calculus. One of the most basic is to think of taking the area under a curve. That is to say, you have some curvy line on a graph and you want to calculate how much area it covers from certain points, say _a_ to _b_. Well, how do you go about doing that? We all know how to take the area of a square or a triangle, or even a circle, but how the hell do you find the area of some arbitrary blob?

Well, you can approximate. You can essentially divide up the blob into a bunch of rectangles of different sizes so that they kind of cover the whole thing. But any approximation is going to be off, since rectangles have corners while curves are completely smooth.

Say you have a curve, the parabola _y = x^2_, and you want to know the area under that curve starting from _x = _0 to _x = _6. You can use something called a Riemann sum, which takes a bunch of rectangles of equal width to approximate the area. So I might take rectangles of width 0.5 to end up with 12 terms (rectangles, or areas) in my Riemann sum and I get an approximation. It's not very good—0.5 is a large interval. In order to get a better approximation, I can make my rectangles smaller, say 0.3, and get 18 terms in my Riemann sum. I can keep doing this until I get really really thin rectangles (I could go up to 0.0000001, if I really wanted to) and a whole bunch of terms in my sum, getting closer and closer to the actual value. But the sum of the parts still does not equal the whole. (wikipedia has good illustrations of this, as does any calculus text, I'm sure: wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/Riemann_sums)

Then how do I get the true value of the area under that curve? The answer kind of falls out of the way we've been doing our approximation. You keep taking smaller widths of rectangles until the width approaches zero. Remember limits? That's what this is about. You can't take the area of something that has width zero—it's impossible. But mathematicians (well, Newton, who was mostly a physicist/alchemist, and Leibniz, who was a mathematician) got around that with the idea of the infinitesimal—something that's so small that there's no way to measure it. Of course, this means that you'll have an infinite number of terms in your Riemann sum, but at this point you have what's called an integral. And with some hand waving (ie magic) you get the real answer for this area under the curve you've been seeking.

I only slightly joke when I say that calculus involves magic. In a regular maths class, all of this is left as a vague idea of things that are really really close to zero (or whatever number it's approaching), magically integrating functions, etc. When you get to analysis, you rigorously prove the ideas that calculus is based on by examining the properties of real numbers, doing δ-ε proofs, looking at the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and all that good stuff. Read Walter Rudin's _Principles of Mathematical Analysis_.

All right, fine, calculus is good, you're messing around again with zero and infinity, sums of parts and wholes. What does this have to do with Spock.

Think of it this way. Spock's relationship with Jim, with Leonard and Nyota, with the crew of the _Enterprise_—it's like a curve. He's trying to figure out when all of this happened, how did this curve form? What's the area under it? Examining it in discrete chunks of time (look at it in little rectangles), he can see how it's been forming, but it doesn't show the complete picture. The sum of the parts does not add up to the whole. If he makes the chunks smaller and smaller, eventually he'll get down to examining every second, but that doesn't provide anything satisfactory either. Tiny moments isolated don't have any meaning. They only have significance in the context of the whole picture.

So Spock is stuck. He can only approximate how, when, why this friendship progressed and grew, knowing that any answer he provides can never cover the whole experience. And what can he say of moments like this: "As we walk, his fingers brush the small of my back."

Time passes—an infinitesimal moment, an everlasting interval.


	34. Ch 71

Kupoteya njia ndiyo kujua njia—To get lost is to learn the way

Another tribute to _Ender's Game_ and a reference to the Formates, or Buggers.


	35. Ch 72

The fugue I had in mind was Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor"

Awesome illustration of the music and the structure of it: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o

Kila ndege huruka na mbawa zake—Every bird flies with its own wings


	36. Ch 74

TOS: "Operation—Annihilate!"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Operation_Annihilate


	37. Ch 81

I didn't make up Scotty's joke on my own, though the telling of it is mine. You can find various forms of it online.

Translation

_El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha_, by Miguel de Cervantes

I've taken these translations from the recent Edith Grossman edition.

Desocupado lector: sin juramento me podrás creer que quisiera que este libro, como hijo del entendimiento, fuera el más hermoso, el más gallardo y más discreto que pudiera imaginarse. Pero no he podido yo contravenir al orden de naturaleza; que en ella cada cosa engendra su semejante. Y así, ¿qué podrá engendrar el estéril y mal cultivado ingenio mío, sino la historia de un hijo seco, avellanado, antojadizo y lleno de pensamientos varios y nunca imaginados de otro alguno, bien como quien se engendró en una cárcel, donde toda incomodidad tiene su asiento y donde todo triste ruido hace su habitación? El sosiego, el lugar apacible, la amenidad de los campos, la serenidad de los cielos, el murmurar de las fuentes, la quietud del espíritu son grande parte para que las musas más estériles se muestren fecundas y ofrezcan partos al mundo que le colmen de maravilla y de contento. Acontece tener un padre un hijo feo y sin gracia alguna, y el amor que le tiene le pone una venda en los ojos para que no vea sus faltas, antes las juzga por discreciones y lindezas y las cuenta a sus amigos por agudezas y donaires.

Idle reader: Without my swearing to it, you can believe that I would like this book, the child of my understanding, to be the most beautiful, the most brilliant, and the most discreet that anyone could imagine. But I have not been able to contravene the natural order; in it, like begets like. And so what would my barren and poorly cultivated wits beg but the history of a child who is dry, withered, capricious, and filled with inconstant thoughts never imagined by anyone else, which is just what one would expect of a person begotten in a prison, where every discomfort has its place and every mournful sound makes its home? Tranquility, a peaceful place, the pleasant countryside, serene skies, murmuring fountains, a calm spirit, are a great motivation for the most barren muses to prove themselves fertile and produce offspring that fill the world with wonder and joy. A father may have a child who is ugly and lacking in all the graces, and the love he feels for him puts a blindfold over his eyes so that he does not see his defects but considers them signs of charm and intelligence and recounts them to his friends as if they were clever and witty.

En efeto, rematado ya su juicio, vino a dar en el más estraño pensamiento que jamás dio loco en el mundo; y fue que le pareció convenible y necesario, así para el aumento de su honra como para el servicio de su república, hacerse caballero andante, y irse por todo el mundo con sus armas y caballo a buscar las aventuras y a ejercitarse en todo aquello que él había leído que los caballeros andantes se ejercitaban, deshaciendo todo género de agravio, y poniéndose en ocasiones y peligros donde, acabándolos, cobrase eterno nombre y fama.

The truth is that when his mind was completely gone, he had the strangest thought any lunatic in the world ever had, which was that it seemed reasonable and necessary to him, both for the sake of his honor and as a service to the nation, to become a knight errant and travel the world with his armor and his horse to seek adventures and engage in everything he had read that knights errant engaged in, righting all manner of wrongs and, by seizing the opportunity and placing himself in danger and ending those wrongs, winning eternal renown and everlasting fame.


	38. Ch 85

Youtube clips for all!

Seriously, you can imagine this talent show going down. I had a lot of fun thinking up acts.

My personal favorite has to be #5—Sulu and Co. breakdancing. If you don't watch anything else, at least watch the first video I give for his act.

1. Glowsticking (mostly stringing): youtube (dot) com/watch?v=s_97E5PtKZU, youtube (dot) com/watch?v=KVa8LvQsmMk, and youtube (dot) com/watch?v=WHdytgDUcVQ

"Moscow Never Sleeps" by DJ Smash: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=B6c7ajAYsJk

"All the things she said" by t.A.T.u (Russian Techno Remix): youtube (dot) com/watch?v=XgrM434pgxE

2. Rhythmic gymnastics ribbon routine by Eugenia Kanaeva to "Moscow Nights": youtube (dot) com/watch?v=zZM02Xo0-yU

3. Didn't have anything particular in mind. Type 'freestyle rap battle' and watch some of the clips. These mofos are insane.

4. Inspired by this video: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=RQQQtJlZBKQ

Note—this is the flashy, showy, extremely impractical side of martial arts. No way that Jim is going to run up a wall and do a backflip to get an enemy.

5. Breakdance and beatbox to Pachelbel's _Canon in D_ remix: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=99BtoQDz-7I, youtube (dot) com/watch?v=JVF1UVpMPEQ

6. American Sign Language Rendition of "Fergalicious": youtube (dot) com/watch?v=P43SwyaRjNs

"Stronger" by Kanye West: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=3jzSh_MLNcY

Kanye West Hands by Barats and Bereta: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=nKcLKDJf-c4

7. "Air on the G String" by Johann Sebastian Bach

String orchestra with score: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=E2j-frfK-yg

Sarah Chang on violin with piano accompaniment: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=qOVwokQnV4M

8. Step dancing done in true Hollywood style. I chose the French dubbing because of video quality: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=QzCCYnTBpcA

Irish step dancing—not your typical showy stuff: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=CKccXHUAKKI

9. Use your imagination.

10. "Vesti la giubba" sung by Luciano Pavarotti at the Met: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=Ky271W94VHA

Lyrics translations available on wikipedia: wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/Vesti_la_giubba

11. "The Lady is a Tramp" by Ella Fitzgerald: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=R21196Yf7Ho

And just because Ella Fitzgerald is amazing: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=8KtlO5MDyAY

12. "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes, part of a compilation of bagpipe music: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=zmwoeBJpcDs

"The Rowan Tree on bagpipes: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=Q09qxBWMCbE

13. Men's gymnastics floor exercise, Beijing Olympics (2008), Alexei Nemov: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=q6M0dTy08B8

14. "St. Crispin's Day Speech" from _Henry V_

Kenneth Branaugh's movie production: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=OAvmLDkAgAM

Laurence Olivier's 1944 version: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=P9fa3HFR02E

Act IV, scene iii text: shakespeare (dot) mit (dot) edu/henryv/henryv.4.3 (dot) html


	39. Ch 87

Ch 87

TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Forever_(episode)

My favorite TOS episode.


	40. Ch 93

I love modern art. I don't claim to love all of it, but it's a shame that so much modern art is misunderstood. Modern art demands a lot from the viewer. You have actually think about what you're seeing and what the artist is trying to present, stand in front of the canvas or sculpture or whatever and really study it to see what the hell is going on. It take time and effort—even with the pieces that resonate with you emotionally.

And art has to be seen live. All art. It doesn't translate to photographs. There's something special about standing in front of a Rembrandt portrait and understanding why the man's a genius. The way he captures people is absolutely stunning. Unequalled. I honestly don't understand why people go to museums, take a photo of some famous work of art, then leave. First of all, there are plenty of high quality photos of famous works online—you can probably order a poster if you wanted to. What was the point of going to the museum if you're not even going to take five minutes to really look at the art?

Kandinsky—I don't know what I can say about Kandinsky. I like his so called Heroic (at least, that's what the curator called it) period best. I don't like his Bauhaus period as much. If you want to read more about him, you can go look online. The painting that Spock and Jim were staring at is called _Painting with White Border_.

A retrospective on Kandinsky is on display until January 2010 at the Guggenheim museum in New York. If you're in the city then and are interested in art, go see it. The collection they show is unparalleled in scope.

If you ever get the chance to visit the Guggenheim in general, go. They put on fantastic exhibitions.


	41. Ch 94

Sexual orientation and the military

...Is a very touchy topic in the United States. Internationally, policies seem to vary from nation to nation. If anyone is more knowledgeable about this topic than I am, please feel free to correct me in this. I am drawing mostly from wikipedia here, and have not looked into the actual legal statues.

In any case, with regards to Germany, according to wikipedia homosexuals, both gay men and lesbian women, are allows to serve in the armed forces. I quote from the site: "Heterosexuals and homosexuals alike are allowed to engage in sexual activity while in the military service as long as it does not interfere with the performance of their duties. Lesbian and gay soldiers are also entitled to enter civil unions as defined by Germany's domestic 'partnership' law."

With regards to the United States, the infamous "Don't ask, don't tell" policy does not allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. I quote again from wikipedia: "The United States of America prohibits LGBT service members from serving openly . . . service members who remain closeted are allowed to serve, but investigation into a member's sexuality without suspicion is prohibited."

Governor Paterson is the current governor of New York state. He became governor after that whole Eliot Spitzer debacle went down.

Angela Merkel is the first woman chancellor of Germany. She was recently (10.28.2009) sworn in to serve for a second term as chancellor. She studied physics at university and was a researcher for some years. Her dissertation is entitled "On the influence of spatial correlations on the rate of chemical reactions in dense gases."


	42. Ch 95

Subtitle: Sexy little subway scenes

This was so much fun to write.


	43. Ch 96

Apologies to any computer scientists who might be reading this. I only took a very basic course on Java, and even then the class consisted mostly of messing around with GUIs. My knowledge of computers is slightly higher than the average user, but only just. I was tempted to do a ton of research to make things more realistic, but decided against it. I do have friends who are electrical engineers. Two are currently working on very cool microelectronics projects, but most of the jargon is beyond me. And yes, I know that working on hardware is very different from coding.

In any case, stone knives and bearskins aside, I decided that the issue of science/tech gap would not be central in this arc.

P = NP is one of the million dollar questions chosen by the Clay Mathematics Institute. Go read about it on wikipedia for starters, if you're interesting in learning more about it. It's an interesting issue, and it revolves around the question of whether we can solve all problems we pose to a computer (this is a terrible, terrible simplification). As powerful as our computers are, there are problems that they can't solve in polynomial time i.e. a finite amount of time. Most theoretical computer scientist don't think that P = NP, given the assumption that the machine is a deterministic sequential machine.


	44. Ch 97

Ginkgo trees are fascinating for so many reasons. They are in their own division (or phylum), which in the classification system is one step down from the kingdom (Plantae, of course). The species _Ginkgo biloba_, which are the trees found on earth today, have no close relatives. They're considered to be living fossils, since their closest relatives can only be found in the fossil record. Ginkgo trees are gendered. There are males and females. Most plants you come across are hermaphroditic, but ginkgos are divided into males and females. Ginkgos are remarkably resilient to almost everything, including the effects of urbanization, which why they're a good choice of urban developers and landscapers. Ginkgos are believed to live for thousands of years and for that reason are considered to symbolize longevity.

Six ginkgo trees in Hiroshima survived the atom bomb. They're still standing today. When the city was being rebuilt, they decided rather than cut down the trees, to accommodate their growth and preserve them as a symbol. I find that something survived that devastation to be absolutely amazing. There's a little website with some information here: xs4all (dot) nl/~kwanten/hiroshima (dot) htm

This may as well be an ode to ginkgos, but they are also quite beautiful, especially in the fall. Their leaves turn a brilliant, pure yellow.


	45. Ch 99

Edith Keeler's future is the Mirror Universe.

For more information, see the page: memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Mirror_universe or watch the TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror."

There are more than two theories of history, but these are the two main paradigms. The traditional view of history is that key leaders and key events make the world go 'round (think back to grade school, when you had to memorize the dates of battles and who was beheaded during the French Revolution? Which Louis was it?), and the post-modern viewpoint, which argues that the general population living ordinary lives make history. There are many ways to look at history. You can consider it based on economics, geo-politics, scientific revolutions, through ideas such as feminism, urbanization, through the lens of imperialism, etc etc.

I am, if you haven't noticed, partial to Russian history. I also worked for a stint with an Ottoman history professor, and that empire is absolutely fascinating as well. The Ottoman Empire was organized by the millet system, and historical research to figure out exactly how flexible or strict that was is really interesting. Also, everyone should know about the epic power struggle between Mahmud II and Mehmet Ali Pasha and the intricate geopolitics of that era. I looked at the wikipedia pages for these topics, and there's a lot to be desired. If you want to get a solid start on Ottoman history go find a hard copy of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ and read there. Then refer to their bibliography, which will have a list of excellent, high quality academic monographs on the topic.

That was quite an aside.


	46. Ch 100

"Why does Spock call you Captain? Were you in the war together?"

"We served together."

"And you don't want to talk about it? Why? Did you do something wrong? Are you afraid of something? Whatever it is, let me help."

"Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words, even over 'I love you.'"

"Centuries from now? Who is he? Where does he come from? Where will he come from?"

"Silly question. Want to hear a silly answer?"

"Yes."

"A planet circling that far left star in Orion's belt. See?"

Star Trek, the Original Series, City on the Edge of Forever


	47. Ch 102

TOS: "Arena"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Arena


	48. Ch 103

Scenes are loosely based on _Band of Brothers_ and _Saving Private Ryan_, "Day of Days" Battle of Brecourt and Omaha Beach respectively.

If you'd like to watch, this person has uploaded a bunch of scenes from war movies on youtube:

youtube (dot) com/user/MarineSniperMK


	49. Ch 105

The history of nationalism is very interesting, and the idea of a nation is actually rather recent. There are many theories concerning the rise of nationalism, and in many ways we are still grappling with its effects today. This segment on nationalism and self determination is based on the history Central and Eastern Europe, where the Empire is the Hapsburg Empire in the 20th century. Standard academic texts on nationalism include Gellner's _Nations and Nationalism_ and Smith's _National Identity_. To read more on nationalism online, this article is very thorough and comprehensive, with a good list of references at the end.

Plato (dot) stanford (dot) edu/entries/nationalism/


	50. Ch 106

Contrast Jim's handling of the situation here in Ch 106 with his handling in Ch 16/17.

Key sentence: "I'm not here to judge, I'm here to negotiate."

Also, both the Emperor and Slladdek justify their points of view by giving evidence of their own experience. Jim simply says: "I'm young, but I've seen a lot."


	51. Ch 108

TOS: "Errand of Mercy"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/Errand_of_Mercy


	52. Ch 110

An attempt to explore again the themes previously established: war, diplomacy, history, the place of individuals within history.

When I wrote this chapter, I had in mind the dichotomy between the needs (the lives) of the many and the needs of the few. I often find that we (including myself) will not reach out to help the suffering masses, no matter the horrors they go through. It is too abstract to feel, and too far away from our own lives. The Organians won't lift a finger to save a million lives. But we will go through great lengths to help once there are faces, people we know, who make it real for us. Once we know the precious lives and opportunities that might be lost, that's when we give a damn.

I don't know what the means about us.


	53. Ch 111

Contrast this interview with the one given in Ch 50. Also note that there's a lot Jim leaves unsaid. Example: "You see another side."

Format based off of interviews given on US Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) Newshour with Jim Lehrer. Their website is pbs (dot) org/newshour

PTSD- Post traumatic stress disorder.

Everyone should read this:

hearingvoices (dot) com/webwork/golding/ophome/mccary (dot) html

Also, this is worth listening to, click to listen to the audio slideshow:

newyorker (dot) com/archive/2006/06/12/060612on_onlineonly01


	54. Ch 112

This closes both the 'City on the Edge of Forever' and 'War & Diplomacy' arcs.

Ch 100 and Ch 112 complement each other.


	55. Ch 113

Heart is a card game. Google it, there are plenty of sites that tell you how to play.

"Eta ya"—«Это я»—That's me.

"Esli mui igraem v karti"—«Если мы играем в карти»— If we play cards


	56. Ch 115

It goes without saying that the quote is from _Romeo and Juliet_.

Mapenzi ni kikohozi, hayawezi kufichika.—Love is like a cough, it cannot be concealed.


	57. Ch 117

Based on the bushfires that happened in Victoria, Australia in February 2009.


	58. Ch 119

Passage from the Richard Lattimore translation of the _Iliad_.

"Ozhidaniye." «Ожидание» "Waiting."

"Chestno govorya" «Честно говоря» "To be honest"

"Kak budto" «Как будто» "As if"

"Da. Trudno." «Да, трудно» "Yeah, it's hard."

_Kak mozhno. Kak nada_. (Как можно. Как надо.) When I am on the bridge, I am not Pavel Andreyevich, but I am Lt. Chekov. I am doing duty, because duty is keeping us safe and alive, and duty is _edinstvenaya nadezhda_ (единственная надежда) that I can be yelling at him, for being _bolshoi durak_ (большой дурак).

And _on chasto delayet camiye glupiye, takiye duratskiye dela_. _Vot, ya ne znayu shto-zh s'nim_. (он часто делает самые глупые, такие дурацкие дела. Вот, я не знаю что-ж с ним.) Sulu, he is pilot, he is fencer. He is liking to be doing daredewil stunts. I am physicist. I am jumping over equations, not shuttles to Romulan drills. _Nu, nichevo. On takoy, hotya sumashedshii_. (Ну, ничего. Он такой, хотя сумасшедший.)

However I can. However I have to. When I am on the bridge, I am not Pavel Andreyevich, but I am Lt. Chekov. I am doing duty, because duty is keeping us safe and alive, and duty is the only hope that I can be yelling at him, for being a big idiot.

And he does such stupid, _stupid_ things sometimes. I am not knowing what he thinks. Sulu, he is a pilot, he is a fencer. He is liking to be doing daredewil stunts. I am physicist. I am jumping over equations, not shuttles to Romulan drills. It doesn't matter. That's how he is, even if he is crazy.

"And opyat, yesho raz, yesho raz." «Опять, ещё раз, ещё раз.» "And again, another time, another time."


	59. Ch 123

The song is on youtube:

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=blypORq3HMc


	60. Ch 124

I am not glazing over the issue of homophobia. I get the sense that most Star Trek slash fictions assume that everything will be good and happy in the future, that homosexual relationships won't be a big deal. I see no reason why this should be true, especially considering Earth's terrible track record dealing with every other type of bigotry out there.

I don't claim to have answers. This is the beginning of an exploration into some heavy topics. A sample of the questions I asked myself were—

What is equality?

Many assume that racism, sexism, homophobia, etc, are caused by ignorance. Is this true?

How do you fight for equality?

What is the role of intelligence in all of this?

Also, read this: washingtonpost (dot) com/wp-dyn/articles/A27067-2005Jan21 (dot) html


	61. Ch 128

Reference to _Firefly_'s episode "Safe."

Inspiration from this kink meme: community (dot) livejournal (dot) com/st_xi_kink_meme/2654 (dot) html?thread=2027614#t2027614


	62. Ch 129

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech can be found here:

americanrhetoric (dot) com/speeches/mlkihaveadream (dot) htm

Watch it on youtube:

youtube (dot) com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

And yes, I'm too lazy to give you an overview of the history of the American South. Read up on it (and no, _Gone with the Wind_ does not count as a valid history), or watch the many documentaries that have been made about the Civil Rights Movement.


	63. Ch 131

Igor Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) was a Russian composer, probably most famous for his works _The Firebird_ and _The Rite of Spring_. He is, hands down, one of the most influential 20th century composers. The music for both _Firebird _and _Rite_ are so intense that you can't help but be effected emotionally. _Rite of Spring_ is also famous for doing revolutionary things with dance, breaking the rules of classical ballet—the audience was famously appalled at the premier on account of both the music and the dance.

You can watch the man himself conduct the "Lullaby and Final Suite" from _The Firebird_ on youtube here: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=5tGA6bpscj8

Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most famous opera composers. You've probably heard the music from his opera somewhere (e.g. "La donna è mobile" from _Rigoletto_). His operas are extremely dramatic, the music saturated with emotion. I highly recommend seeing one of his operas live, if you can.

Nederlands Dans Theater is a Dutch contemporary dance company. I've never seen them live, but the clips they put online are amazing. Truly some of the best dance out there—experimental, precise (watch the degree of control they have of their bodies), thought provoking.

Their website: ndt (dot) nl/

Mark Rothko was an American painter, most famous for his color field canvases and his suicide. I've said this before, but you really have to go stand in front of the painting to get the full effect of the color, the brush strokes, the amazing detail that can be found even in simple blocks of color. Photographs simply cannot do justice it at all.

If you want a slightly deeper overview of Rothko, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC created a website. They have a huge Rothko collection, including his earlier works. The website is: nga (dot) gov/feature/rothko/

"Like chemical reagents seeking equilibrium, he and I respond to external pressures by Le Chatelier's principle, constantly adjusting and compensating wherever necessary. At once a unit yet distinct in our components, Jim and I create another equation."

This idea of creating another equation is extends on previous thoughts of how we go about defining things (see Ch 18 in particular). It's natural to think of equality in the traditional mathematical sense, as an equation where the terms on the left hand side (LHS) must equal the terms on the right hand side (RHS) in order for it to be logically consistent. But here, Spock is looking beyond mathematics to another kind of equation.

Strictly speaking, chemical equations are also about LHS = RHS, since energy (and matter) has to be conserved. That's what stoichiometry is about. But when we're considering reactions, chemical equations have a flexibility to them, since factors such as temperature, pressure, volume, the presence of other reagents, catalysts, can change the "terms" of either side. LHS and RHS seek equilibrium, a balance, compensating for the different variables that affect the two sides of the equation. This process of finding equilibrium is dynamic and ongoing—it never stops. Atoms, molecules, and energy are constantly in flux, as long as the temperature isn't absolute zero.

The point: Spock and Jim are in reaction. They are the left and right sides of the equation. The two sides _are_ different in their ions, molecules, etc. However, Spock says that they are "at once a unit" because they are also the overarching system in which the reaction takes place. You don't consider one side of the equation without thinking about the other—they are interdependent.

Granted, mathematics has many different "types" of equality. I could talk about isomorphisms, homeomorphisms, equivalence classes, bijections... they're all interesting concepts, but not quite the same as this idea of chemical equilibrium.

That was an extremely simplified explanation of Le Chatelier's principle. To those of you who deal with chemistry on a daily basis, apologies if I oversimplified. I haven't looked at chemistry in a while.


	64. Ch 132

Poem from _Leaves of Grass_, Calamus

The text is available online here: bartleby (dot) com/142/index1 (dot) html

Walt Whitman was homosexual or bisexual. It shows in _Leaves_. People dispute this, but I really can't see how you could read _anything_ from Calamus and still claim that he wasn't interested in men.

I suggest having an anatomy book open on the side while reading the sex scenes. Have fun finding the L4 vertebra and the inguinal ligament, among other things. Also, if you read very carefully, this scene has more sex than the words would have you believe (where do the abdominal muscles terminate?). Yes, despite the fact that they only get half naked.


	65. Ch 133

TOS: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/What_Are_Little_Girls_Made_Of%3F_(episode)

The science is sort of based off the events of Earth's Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event (the K-T event), though I'm not sure that underground caverns could have actually saved some of the population from dying. When something like that hits, it effects activity under the crust as much as it wreaks havoc on the atmosphere.


	66. Ch 136

Sahau ni dawa ya waja— Forgetting is humankind's medicine.


	67. Ch 141

"Into the West" by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, Annie Lennox, performed by Annie Lennox, the closing credits song to _The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King_.

You can listen to it on youtube, if it hasn't been taken down. Someone also did a version accompanied by harp that's also on youtube. I imagine that's how it might have sounded.


	68. Ch 142

Chyort vozmi— Чёрт возьми— Devil take it (literally), more along the lines of "damnit"

sto raz— сто раз— 100 times

Nu, koroche govorya— Ну, короче говоря— "Basically, I am reading ewerything"

ya—nikogda nye hotyel zanimatsa mashinostroyeniyem— я—никогда не хотел заниматься машиностроением— Me, I never wanted to study engineering.

Duraki, vsye—Дураки, все— Idiots, all of them

bolvan na filosofskom fakultetye—болван на философском факультете— blockhead in the philosophy department


	69. Ch 145

"Bernstein Sanger and Dana Woodward"

Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, David Sanger, Dana Priest are all American journalists. Woodward and Bernstein famously covered the Watergate story. David Sanger is a _New York Times_ reporter, Dana Priest writes for the _Washington Post_.

Journalism has very different standards than regular prose. I haven't studied journalism, nor have I ever written for a newspaper. That being said, and comparing this chapter to some articles written by the pros, I don't think this is a very good piece of journalism.


	70. Ch 146

Areel Shaw from the TOS episode "Court Martial."

This and Ch 145 sort of tie up the 'Equality' arc I set up, but they're also a study of the mechanism of change and reform in bureaucracies, the effect of the media on instigating that change, and the multifaceted interactions between bureaucracy and individuals. Starfleet is different from most government bureaucracies because it seems to house a lot of different departments under one roof. They are a military institution, but they also have the Academy, various intelligence agencies, and research facilities. There's also the fact that they deal with diplomacy, so that indicates they've something like a foreign ministry or state department in there too. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some bureaus dealing with judicial matters also.

Typically, these are divided into separate ministries/departments/bureaus/agencies/you get the idea. With Star Trek, they're all lumped together. Granted, Memory Alpha says that separate executive agencies exist to deal with the science, affairs of state, etc, but that doesn't exclude the possibility that Starfleet has their own people (just as today, militaries have their own laboratories for defense research, their own intel, their own analysts). There are definite advantages and disadvantages to having what appears to be a super-centralized organizational scheme. Theoretically, there's efficiency, different subdivisions might be able to communicate better, since it's military there's a chain of command and therefore a chain of responsibility... maybe. But having something like that also makes the bureaucracy huge, to the point where things can get unmanageable.

I'm not sure exactly how large a role the Federation government plays in the everyday lives of their citizens. I know that Star Trek is about space and exploration, but thinking about the mundane nuts and bolts, there are a lot of really basic questions to ask. How big is the government, exactly? How many people does it employ? How is it organized—like the UN? Like the EU? How much power does it have, exactly? How does it collect revenue? What kind of economic model does the Federation follow? Obviously Starfleet is a command economy. But what of the planets? Interplanetary? Intraplanetary? Between the larger empires? What is the interaction between the government (e.g. the FedCouncil) and its institutions (Starfleet)?

...then you add the media into all this.


	71. Ch 151

I've studied the economy of slave trade from a historical perspective. This chapter is based off that background knowledge, as well as a few things about sex-trafficking. I didn't refer to this while writing, but I think it's worth looking at the transcript of this program from _Frontline_. It can be found at: pbs (dot) org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/


	72. Ch 152

Mchuma janga hula na wakwao— He who earns calamity eats it with his family.

Achekaye kovu hajaona jeraha— One who laughs at a scar hasn't seen a wound (i.e. Don't criticize/insult another if you don't completely understand their rationale/reasons.)


	73. Ch 153

_Podozhditye__—_Подождите.—Wait

_Znayetye, on napominayet mnye mo__yevo__ brat__a_.—Знаете, он напоминает мне моего брата.—He reminds me of my brother.

_Mnye vsyo ravno_.—Мне всё равно.—I don't care.

_Horosho__—_Хорошо.—Good (more like 'okay' in this context)

--

I used Google's translating program for the universal translator's version. Below is what's actually being said.

Хотите? —Want one?

Спасиб. Где купил? —Thanks. Where'd you buy them?

На чёрном рынке, когда мы были на планете Пласер. Вы когда-нибудь были? —The black market, when we were on the planet Placer. You ever been?

Нет. Слышал много о ней, но никогда не было. Понравилась? —Nope. I've heard a lot about it, but I've never been. Liked it?

Очень. Пошёл с друзями, и я купил вот эти и водку, которая я думал, что только был продана в России. —Yeah. I went with friends, bought these and vodka that I thought was only sold in Russia.

Здорово. Всё, продавшие Орионами. —Cool. Everything's sold by Orions.

Точно. —Yup.

Можно, ещё одну? —Hey, can I have another?

Берите. Кроме меня, никого не курит на этом корабле. —Go ahead. No one on this ship smokes, except me.

Спасиб. Знаете, я служил четыре года в Звёзном Флоте. Наш капитан—славный малый. Гораздо старше чем Кирк, конечно, но он—командир. У него был спокойность в нутри, понимаете. Настоящий мужик. —Thanks. You know, I served in Starfleet for four years. The captain was a nice old fucker. He was a lot younger than Kirk of course, but he was a real commander. There was a kind of calm inside him, you know?

Мой брат служил с таким капитаном. Вспомните решительный бой с Клингонами? —My brother served under a captain like that. Remember that decisive battle with the Klingons?

Как могу забыть? Я сам стрелял тех ублюдков. —How can I forget? I was there—I shot those bastards.

Классно. —Nice.

Брат у вас, там был? —Your brother was there?

Да, был. Да и умер. —Yeah. Died there.

Ну, так бывает. —It happens.

Ладно, ну давай короче. Где она? —Okay, let's make this short. Where is she?

Она не найдена. Они отрезали ей голову. —She can't be found. They cut off her head.

А тело её? —And her body?

Зола. —Ash.

Почему вы не так говорили раньше, если она уже была убита? —Why didn't you say anything before, if she's already dead?

Они бы верили в мои слова? —They'd believe me?

Ну, так и бывает. —Well. It happens.

Хорошие сигаретки, эти. —These are good cigarettes.

--

_Mozhet buit_—Может быть. —Maybe


	74. Ch 156

TOS: "The Doomsday Machine"

memory-alpha (dot) org/en/wiki/The_Doomsday_Machine_(episode)


	75. Ch 159

"Take all myself" and "I take thee at thy word" are from _Romeo and Juliet_.


	76. Ch 160

I hold it true, whate'er befall  
I feel it, when I sorrow most;  
'Tis better to have loved and lost,  
Than never to have loved at all.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson, _In Memoriam_


	77. Ch 161

This and Ch 115 were written at the same time.


	78. Ch 163

In some ways, Ch 129 and Ch 163 are paired. This chapter was also the inspiration for _A Good Man_.

"I do not know. It came upon me so gradually that I was in the middle of it before I was aware that I had even begun. However, the realization of the depth of my emotional state, and the explicit acknowledgment of it on my part was only recent."—a tribute to Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_


	79. Ch 164

Ch 44, Ch 70, Ch 100, Ch 164—kill, lie, die, live

Yes, I planned it that way from the beginning.


	80. Ch 167

"The only thing we can do is approximate using Fourier analysis, as though love is an impossible periodic function and the only way we may describe it is by decomposing it into an infinite sum of sines and cosines. Or we might sculpt it using negative space, as though love is a block of marble and we chip away what it is not, to obtain the figure of what it is."

This and Ch 70.

Fourier series are, as Spock describes, decompositions of functions into an infinite sum of sines and cosines. Basically, instead of writing your function in terms of _x^9 + 17x^5 + e^(2y/π_) or whatnot, you use only various combinations of sin(x) and cos(x). Generally the function you're approximating is taken to be 2π-periodic (i.e. it repeats every 2π), and the more terms you have in your decomposition, the better the approximation. This idea of approximation is similar to the note I wrote earlier concerning Riemann sums and calculating the area under the curve.

I think the idea of negative space is clear. There are two main ways (these aren't the only ways, of course) that you can sculpt. There's additive sculpting, where elements are added, molded, shaped, and removed from the main piece. This what you do with clay and how you eventually make bronze sculptures. The process of making a bronze sculpture is rather elaborate, but it's based on additive sculpting, since you first make the thing out of clay, wax, wood, etc, then make a cast, then make the bronze sculpture out of the cast. That's the gist of it. I got carried away. The point is, sculpting with stone is subtractive, where you carve out the figure by removing what it's not.

I don't know what more I can say. He says it best, right there in those two sentences.

"Without it, can life hold any meaning? Without it, is it possible to hope? We ask of the universe an eternal question: 'Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?'"

Inspired by Spock's speech in _The Motion Picture_, when he tells Jim of the meld with V'Ger.

The poem is a modified version of the first chapter in the _Song of Solomon_ (or the _Song of Songs_). There are several versions of the text. I used the King James Version, which can be found on bartleby here: bartleby (dot) com/108/22/1 (dot) html#S1


End file.
